In his now-daily COVID-19 update press conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo indicated that the wave of positive cases has not yet crested, but introduced a team he said is now working on a plan to get the state's economy going again.
Calling it a bit like “getting the old band back together,” Cuomo said that Bill Mulrow, who has been a financial advisor to four New York Governors, and Larry Schwartz, Cuomo's former Secretary to the Governor, are now volunteering to work on a roadmap toward getting business going again while public health officials continue to work to keep the virus from overwhelming the state's health care system.
“We've got to start planning on parallel paths, planning for economic viability while dovetailing with public health.”
Cuomo warned, in his personal opinion, which he was careful to separate from fact, that this could go on for “months.”
“That is a new reality,” he said.
The governor compared the graph showing the incidence of confirmed cases as a wave.
“The wave has not crested yet. Right now, we cannot handle the wave at its projected high point. That's why we've got to get the wave down.”
“We are doing more testing than anyone,” Cuomo said, which he said is part of the reason that the state has so many more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than anywhere else in the country.
He said more than 78,000 people have been tested in the state, and almost 21,000 have been confirmed with the virus, with 5607 new cases. Among those new cases are, the state said, new cases in Otsego, Cayuga and Oswego counties.
In comparison, New Jersey, which has the second highest number of confirmed cases, has 1914 cases, with California at 1849.
“In our state, 13% of those confirmed cases require hospitalization, which is a relatively good number,” Cuomo said. “That's down from a high of 21%.”
The vast majority of those cases are in New York City. 621 people, 24% of those hospitalized, he said, required ICU beds.
He has ordered all hospitals in the state to increase their beds by 50%, and is asking them to try to double their capacity. If they were successful, Cuomo said, the state would have enough beds to handle the anticipated need.
Cuomo said 30,000 retired doctors and nurses have replied, so far, to the state's request for them to come back to help during this emergency. He said there was an executive order calling for all nurses to enlist, and he's asking insurance companies to provide details to the state on the doctors and nurses they have on staff.
He said he'd be going to the Javits Center in New York City to tour the thousand bed hospital that is being installed there. He said additional new beds will be created at Stony Brook, Westchester and Old Westbury campuses, and he thanked President Donald Trump for issuing a Major Disaster Declaration that made that possible. But he again called on the federal government to step in and help with coordinating supplies for other health care facilities around the state.
“We are competing with other states,” he said. “I'm bidding up the prices! Why are we competing?”
Cuomo said the Federal Defense Production Act, which the president has the authority to enact, doesn't nationalize anything. But it orders manufacturers to make needed supplies, and lets the coordination of distributing those supplies rest with Washington.
“Yes, it's government telling private business what to do,” he said. “But so what? This is a national emergency!”
Cuomo said the state would be sending out supplies it's managed to procure today, and that, at this point, there is absolutely no reason for any health care provider to go without masks. He said, at least today, the state has enough masks to fill any need and health care facilities should be contacting the state to get them.
Cuomo also addressed drug therapies, saying that treatments with hydroxychorine and zithromax will be begin this week, and said the state Department of Health is working on a treatment that uses virus antibodies to promote an immune system response. That therapy will be offered on a trial basis for those patients in the most serious condition.
He urged everyone to “settle in.” And reminded citizens that, “based on the numbers, many will get the virus, but few are truly endangered.”
He warned New Yorkers not to underestimate the emotional trauma and the isolation the response to this virus has caused. He called it “unnatural and disorienting.”
Cuomo said this emergency can be seen as an opportunity, not just a chance for individuals to slow down, knowing that vital services will continue to be available, but as a chance to realistically prepare for the future.
“We were not ready to deal with this,” he said. “But other situations will happen. Let's learn from this and be prepared.”
